


red star

by imposterhuman



Series: winteriron week 2019 [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Winteriron Week 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-12 17:14:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19949893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imposterhuman/pseuds/imposterhuman
Summary: Tony had a red star on his left shoulder, the mark of a dead man. James Buchanan Barnes’s soulmark, after all, was a matter of public record. Even though he died in World War II, Tony somehow had his mark branded on his skin.He grew up with the knowledge that the unconditional love of a soulmate would never be for him. He didn’t care; soulmates were bullshit, anyway. His parents, united with a narcissus on their collarbones, were proof of that.Tony’s soulmate was long dead, and Tony was totally fine with that. Really, he was.Of course, the universe had to fuck him over in the most dramatic possible way.





	red star

**Author's Note:**

> day three of winteriron week: soulmates
> 
> enjoy!

Tony had a red star on his left shoulder, the mark of a dead man. James Buchanan Barnes’s soulmark, after all, was a matter of public record. Even though he died in World War II, Tony somehow had his mark branded on his skin.

He grew up with the knowledge that the unconditional love of a soulmate would never be for him. He didn’t care; soulmates were bullshit, anyway. His parents, united with a narcissus on their collarbones, were proof of that. 

Tony’s soulmate was long dead, and Tony was totally fine with that. Really, he was. 

Of course, the universe had to fuck him over in the most dramatic possible way. 

His soulmate was a brainwashed HYDRA assassin, kept alive (and in mint condition, minus the arm) by the serum he had killed Tony’s parents to get. Oh, and he was in the wind after the clusterfuck that was DC, hiding from Steve and the rest of the Avengers. 

When Tony heard about everything, he locked himself in the lab for a week. He came out with Barnes’s location, the BARF tech to help with the brainwashing, and the worst hangover he’d had since his twenties. 

No one knew that Barnes was his soulmate. Tony had never made it public, had never let the press catch even a whiff of what his mark could be. Even in the Tower, in his own  _ home _ , he wore synthetic skin over it at all times. The only person who had ever known, besides his parents and Jarvis, was Yinsen (there was no hiding it in the cave). Even  _ Rhodey  _ didn’t know. Tony planned to keep it that way.

Still, he couldn’t leave Barnes out in the cold (he knew what it was like to be alone).

Tony didn’t even wait for the hangover to fade before he was hopping in the suit and flying to Romania. Stopping to think meant stopping to dwell, so he just… didn’t. He didn’t dwell on the fact that he was helping his mother’s murderer (unwilling murderer, but still). He didn’t dwell on the fact that Barnes could kill him in a heartbeat. He didn’t dwell on the fact that the man was his soulmate, and he didn’t (and wouldn’t ever) know.

Tony just flew. 

It took him only a few hours to land in Romania and locate the apartment building that Barnes was staying in. He landed on the roof, no doubt alerting Barnes to his presence. He really hoped that Barnes didn’t try to run. 

Tony, against his better judgment (and JARVIS’s vehement protests), left the suit on the roof in sentry mode. He wasn’t going to shoot his soulmate; he didn’t think he could, honestly. And he doubted Barnes was gunning for a fight. He donned his other armor, the mask of Tony Fucking Stark, and stepped into the builiding.

For a super paranoid assassin, Barnes’s lock sure looked easy to pick. Not that Tony was planning to; he knocked on the door, like a civilized person. 

A haggard man opened the door. He had the air of someone on their way to the firing squad, but Tony could see the danger in his corded muscles and the knives at his belt.

“Barnes,” Tony greeted, stepping inside. “I trust you know who I am?”

“Anthony Edward Stark,” Barnes replied dully. “Are you here to kill me?”

Tony shook his head. “Does it look like I can right now?” he asked dryly. “I’m a squishy, unenhanced human. You could crush me with two fingers. Maybe one, if you use that metal arm.” 

“You’re a threat, suit or not,” Barnes said, but there was the ghost of a smile on his face. 

“I’m here to bring you home, if that’s what you want,” said Tony. “That’s all. I promise.”

“I’m dangerous,” Barnes shook his head. “I can still hurt people. There are these words-”

“Not a problem,” Tony shoved his hands in his pockets. “I, uh, solved that a few days ago. It won’t be an easy process, but I can dissociate the trigger words.”

Barnes stared at him in shock. “You can… you can get them out of my head?” there was a thread of vulnerability, of hope, in his voice. 

“I can,” Tony nodded. “And it’s not contingent on you coming with me. I’ll help you no matter what. I just wanted to give you options.”

“What’s the catch?” Barnes furrowed his eyebrows. 

“There is no catch,” Tony said gently. 

Barnes raised a gun that Tony didn’t even see him draw. “There is  _ always  _ a catch,” his voice was haunted.

Tony lifted his hands placatingly. “Not with me,” he said. He smirked playfully. “What could you give me, anyway? I’m a genius, billionaire, and super hero. Really, I’ve covered all my bases here.”

Barnes lowered his weapon, assessing him. Tony breathed a small sigh of relief; he really hadn’t wanted to be killed by his soulmate. 

“I’ll come with you,” Barnes decided hesitantly.

“Well, Mr. Barnes,” Tony smirked, gesturing towards the door. “I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.”

“Bucky,” said Barnes, stilted. “My name is Bucky.”

\---

Bucky’s recovery was tough and there were several points where Tony had to vent his anger at the man’s treatment by finding the nearest HYDRA base and blowing it to smithereens. But the man had more strength than Tony thought possible. He pushed through every setback, every bump in the road, with the same dedication that had made him such a deadly assassin.

By the time Tony declared him a free man, Bucky had somehow become his friend. It was weird, but Tony loved it. 

He also loved  _ Bucky _ , but that was a different situation. Bucky was impossible not to love, really. Tony couldn’t be blamed for his feelings. But he still hadn’t told Bucky that they were soulmates. Bucky deserved so much better than Tony.

More than love, he  _ trusted  _ Bucky. Bucky could hand him things. Bucky could touch the reactor. And on the field, with the Soldier watching over the team, Tony felt invincible. 

It didn’t mean he  _ was _ ; their most recent battle was proof of that. Tony had taken a nasty hit at the end of the battle, cutting through the metal of the suit and a chunk of his shoulder. 

“Shit, fuck, shit,” he hissed as the suit came off. With it, a renewed gush of blood from the gash on his shoulder. “ _ Fuck _ !”

It definitely needed stitches, he realized. Groaning softly, he dug in his desk for the sterile needles and thread. It was his left shoulder, neatly cutting into the edge of the patch of synthetic skin and causing it to tear. Medical wasn’t an option, not unless he wanted his soulmark to be common knowledge.

“Sir, if I may-” JARVIS started.

“Mute,” Tony said, snatching the pack of alcohol wipes that DUM-E handed him to clean his wound. DUM-E beeped angrily, clearly getting signals from JARVIS. “Oh, son of a bitch. Unmute.”

“Go to Medical,” JARVIS advised. “They will do a far better job of fixing your injuries.”

Tony didn’t pause his ministrations to glare at one of JARVIS’s cameras, even though he wanted to. He just gritted his teeth and injected the local anaesthetic. “I’m aware, J,” he said tightly. “You know why I can’t go.”

In response, JARVIS just pulled up articles on doctor-patient confidentiality on the nearest screen. There were several specifically relating to soulmarks that Tony dismissed with a wave of his hand. 

Tony pried the synthetic skin off of his soulmark. It was getting in the way of his stitching. The mark looked the same as it always had, the same as the one that Bucky had shyly requested to be painted on his metal arm when Tony replaced it. Tony hated it, the reminder of the universe’s massive fuck up; someone as  _ good  _ as Bucky couldn’t be stuck with Tony Stark as a soulmate.

He sighed and worked faster. It made him antsy to have his soulmark exposed for too long. 

“Sir,” interrupted JARVIS. 

Tony rolled his eyes. He didn’t need another lecture on safety from his overprotective AI. “Mute,” he said. He didn’t need the distraction, either. 

He almost fell out of his seat with the lab doors banged open. “Anthony Edward Stark,” Bucky said dangerously. 

So  _ that  _ was what JARVIS was going to say. “Um, hi?” Tony said, discreetly angling his left side away from Bucky. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

“Don’t play dumb,” Bucky glared at him. “I saw that last hit. Let me see your arm.”

“I’m fine, Buckaroo,” Tony said. “Just a bruise.”

“You’re holding a needle in your hand.”

Tony cursed mentally. “I’ve taken up a passion for needlepoint?”

Bucky raised an eyebrow. “Doll,” he said, gentler. “You’re hurt. Let me help.”

“Seriously, I’m fine,” protested Tony, trying to delay the inevitable. He never was able to deny Bucky a thing. “I’ve done my own stitches tons of times. This isn’t that bad, really.”

“You’re going to be the death of me,” Bucky pinched the bridge of his nose. He stepped closer, close enough to maneuver Tony. Tony didn’t struggle as he turned his body to look at the still sluggishly bleeding cut. 

“See?” Tony had his right hand clapped over his soulmark. The blood dripping down his arm hid the red that he couldn’t cover. “All good.”

Bucky plucked the needle from Tony’s left hand, deftly finishing the row of stitches, far neater than Tony could have. “You’re horrible,” he shook his head. “Let’s get this cleaned up.”

“Sure,” Tony said, the fading adrenaline from the fight and the near-miss leaving him exhausted. “Pass me a pack of wipes?”

“Here you go,” said Bucky, passing them over. Tony took them with his right hand, accidentally baring his soulmark. It would have been fine if he didn’t choke on air at the realization, drawing Bucky’s trained eye to his wound, inches from the star. 

“Shit,” Tony muttered, clapping his hand back in place. It was too late, though, from the look on Bucky’s face.

“Tony,” he said softly. “What’s your soulmark?”

“It’s nothing,” Tony said quickly. He turned his body away from Bucky’s prying gaze.

“It didn’t look like nothing,” Bucky countered. “It looked like a red star.”

Tony wasn’t ashamed to admit that he was panicking. There was no denying some truths, though; even he, for all his prowess at bullshit, knew that. “Yes, it is,” he admitted quietly. “Yours.” 

Bucky’s face fell. “Is being my soulmate that bad?” he asked, wretched. There were tears in his eyes and both his hands were in painful fists. 

“No!” Tony said instantly. He wasn’t sure if he was still allowed the casual touches that they shared, but he reached out anyway. He willed Bucky to believe him, poured every ounce of sincerity into his voice. “It’s not you. You’re… you’re perfect. You’re good and strong and kind, and I’m just…”  _ an asshole, a narcissist, an ex-arms dealer with a line of sins ten miles long.  _ “Well, me. You deserve so much better.” 

“Bullshit,” Bucky’s eyes blazed with anger. “Didn’t you think I deserved to make that decision?”

Tony hung his head in shame. “I’m sorry,” he rasped. “I just…”

“You’re a fucking idiot,” Bucky shook his head. “It doesn’t get much better than you, doll.”

Tony gaped in shock. “What?”

Bucky just chuckled and shook his head, leaning in for a kiss. Tony followed eagerly, moving his lips against Bucky’s. The kiss was everything that Jarvis had said soulmates would be; it was love, it was acceptance, it was  _ home _ .

“We could’ve been doing this for ages,” Bucky gasped when they pulled apart for air. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m a dumbass,” Tony rolled his eyes and threw his arms around Bucky’s neck, drawing him in. “Now, kiss me again, soldier. We have a lot of lost time to make up for.”

And what else could Bucky do but listen?

**Author's Note:**

> thoughts? comments and kudos make me a happy gal
> 
> hmu on tumblr [@imposter-human](https://imposter-human.tumblr.com/)
> 
> EDIT: there was some confusion on tumblr, so ill clarify- bucky had a red star on his shoulder before becoming the winter soldier, once he got the metal arm some hydra idiot painted it on or smthng, i didnt think that far ahead whoops. both he and tony share it. i was going to give them arc reactors too and do a "tonys soulmate is iron man" but i felt like that was too obvious and convoluted so they both just have the one mark. a red star seemed like the best option because their initial connection was the winter soldier and the star is emblematic of him. let me know if yall are still confused :))


End file.
